Dark Stranger

Scott - Part 2

Case 1 - "Scott"

I was torn, between my need to spend time with Kris and finding out more about the Demon. Scott didn't look like he was waking up any time soon though, so I put my game face on and headed up to be with Kris.

As I let go of his hand and left the room, the blonde on the bed mumbled "Don't go."

But my focus had shifted to Kris, so it didn't get through the fog of despair that had closed around me again. It was getting harder to put on a brave face for him. I was in mourning for the man who had been such an important part of my life for a decade and was about to leave me. I had painted his portrait when we first met. The night I took him home he posed for me. Nude. He was adventurous, had a cheeky smile and was a tiger in bed. It took me a year before I told him my secret. He was all in, just like that.

He became my Daytime Servant, my assistant with the everyday running of my business. The smiling face that people saw when they came in for consults and the liaison between me and the Police who were on duty during daylight hours. He also touched base with my other employees and passed on information I deemed pertinent to whomever required it. I'd even helped out Homeland Security anonymously. I laughed to myself when I thought about that though. I was pretty sure there was a division in that Agency that was devoted to the unusual. X-Files? Well I'm sure there were people keeping records of the things that went on when no one was watching. They might even have a file on me somewhere... Can't concern myself about that right now though.

We'd been in some interesting situations. Although the last few years had been relatively uneventful supernaturally speaking, before that he'd had to bail me out on a few occasions. The most memorable one was a Dominatrix's dungeon, there was a morgue van and a Motorcycle Clubhouse a few years before that too. Don't ask. I'll share those fuckups when I'm good and ready.

He had a thing for opera, so I'd done some training and used to sing for him. He couldn't carry a tune poor dear. Loved show tunes too, most recently Wicked and Rent. I could Elphaba with the best of them, but I digress.

I took a deep breath and listened to see if he was awake. No, still asleep. I went in and sat down. His face was strained and I checked his meds line. It was doing what it was programmed to do. So we must be at the point where the pain was more than the meds could abate. My poor love. I reached up and stroked his forehead, pushing back the hair that fell across his hot, dry forehead. Holding his hand, I begged him to wake up.

"Kris, Luv. Can you hear me?"

"Hmmmmm?"

"Do you want me to get the nurse to turn up your meds?"

"Yes please Hun." He replied slowly. I pushed the call button.

When the nurse came and I explained the situation, she called the Doctor for permission. He gave it. That was the indicator to me that Kris was on the final sprint to the end. Reading between the lines of the medical jargon, Kris was fading. This might be our last night. Kris clutched my hand and smiled again. It was brilliant, reminiscent of the cheeky yet blinding smile that had stolen my heart all those years ago.

"Promise me something Mitch." Oh no, he never used my real name.

"Anything."

"Don't mourn me for too long Love."

Tears began to roll down my cheeks. "I can't promise that."

"Promise me. In this day and age, you need to find someone you can trust. Sooner rather than later my Love."

I bent my head over his hand and tried to be strong. Inside I was breaking. Every time I shattered, the pieces got smaller. Each time was as hard as the last whether they were taken from me quickly or gradually like now. It seemed like it got harder each time to mend all those tiny shards and think about someone new.